You can waste your life drawing lines. Or you can live your life crossing them.

Category: Food

Health Trivia

Here is a question for you. Try and see if you get this one right.

Which one of these has the most calories?

a) McDonald’s Big Mac

b) 2 Egg Mcmuffins

c) Large Chocolate Shake

tic…tic…tic…

If you said Big Mac, your answer is the same as most Americans, according to a survey.

The right answer is Chocolate shake. It has 1160 calories, almost half of an average man’s daily requirment.

While the Mcmuffins and Big Mac have 300 and 540 calories respectively.

 This survey was  done in Seattle to assess how much the public was really aware of what they eat. The survey also showed that more people eat out than ever before.

Here is a chart to help you gauge what you eat at McDonald’s.

McDonald’s Nutrition Chart.

Chocolate Triple Thick Shake

Eat Up!

Fast FoodBurger and Fries

Trying to keep up with the New Year’s resolution, I walked into Quiznoz convincing myself to stay away from mayo. With suppressed temptations and a strong will power I steered clear of all the “good stuff “. My eyes fell on  friendly posters on the walls. They claimed  their *Sammies* contained only 200 calories. I ordered vegetarian Sammies, “You know these people are not that bad after all. They do care about your health.” I said.

Just then, a waitress walked by and informed me that they can’t serve me my vegetarian Sammies because they only had it in chicken and turkey. My husband later explained that Sammies are usually non vegetarian sandwiches. Well, so much for my ambitious weight watching in a fast food restaurant. This lead me to think, are these meals really as healthy as they are purported to be.

Most of the fast food chains have gone the healthy way. McDonald’s came up with a nutritional chart for it’s “wholesome” meals. Subway offers it’s “fresh fit” sandwiches to the health conscious customers and Chili’s came up with their “guiltless grill”. All the great food that you can eat but, without being scared to step on the weighing machine. How about that? Sounds too good to be true, right? Maybe it is.

Just how Guiltless can you be after the “right portion, right price” meal? Wall Street Journal took a look into this recently. They sent a team of calorie calculators to 5 top fast food chains. What did they have to say after trying out the low-fat alternatives? Their results was very obvious, but oblivious. Lab tests proved that the calorie count of the food was almost the same as it was claimed to be. However, they were frequently offered cheese and dressings with no warning that they would dramatically boost calorie and fat intake.

 It is easier to consume more in an overall environment of temptation. A minefield of creamy sides and condiments awaits you as soon as you enter an eatery. The drinks, extra toppings, desert add up and make your meal equal  to the regular, fattening ones.

We applaud the effort of New York Mayor Bloomberg for trying to make calorie labelling  compulsory for standard portions in all standardised eateries. Bravo Mayor Bloomberg, for helping us stick to our weight resolutions!!

As for me, I’ll keep waiting until someone comes up with vegetarian Sammies.

Apple Strudel!!

This one is for all you nifty cooks out there. One of my standbys

You know those times when you feel like devouring something warm and comforting on a rainy afternoon, well this is one of my favourite comfort food. It is perfect for the times when friends or family  come over, especially when they will show  up after breakfast but before lunch,  or after lunch but before dinner.

I follow the easy version which takes little effort and no time to get ready. And guess what, it still turns out delicious.

 No fancy ingredients in this one

Quick Apple Strudel – A loaf of puff pastry filled with melt-in-your mouth green apple filling… mmm. I got this recipe from www.puffpastry.com. Puff Pastries are so versatile, you can do so many things with them. 

Puff Pastry Sheets (1 sheet)
1 egg
1 tbsp. water
2 tbsp. granulated sugar
1 tbsp. all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. ground ground cinnamon
2 large Granny Smith apples
2 tbsp. raisins

1. Thaw the pastry sheet at room temperature. Heat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a baking sheet. Stir the egg and water in a small bowl. Mix the sugar, flour and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Add the sliced apples and raisins.2. Unfold the pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface. With a rolling pin, flatten it out a little. With a spoon, drop the apple mixture onto the bottom half of the pastry to within 1 inch of the edges. Start to roll up. Place seam-side down on the baking sheet. Tuck ends under to seal. Brush with the egg mixture. Cut several 2-inch long slits 2 inches apart on the top.3. Bake for 35 minutes or until golden. Cool on the baking sheet on a wire rack for 30 minutes. Slice and serve warm

YUM!!! 

One thing I realise after writing this post is that I desperately need to make some for myself. Until next time…bye.

Crazy about it!!

SU5HI

Remember about how I said that sushi is very popular in the USA…well, here is the proof. Evidently this guy can’t get enough of it! Also check out the salmon image on his number plate in the image above.

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE SUSHI!

‘which one do you like the best?’

For a person like me, who was a virgin to the world of Japanese cuisine, eating sushi for the first time was quite a gripping experience. When taken out for a sushi dinner for the first time I couldn’t help but wonder what all I was to expect. And yes, you’re right, it was loaded with a few unexpected surprises! But, none the less it was an experience to remember. I tried not to gag and I tried not to think of my medical report reading, Cause of death: eating raw fish. I share my experience here and hope that the first time for all the Sushi virgins out there is lot less scarier than mine. And If you have had Sushi before and have gone beyond the initial phase of face contortions and curious sniffing you might find this useful too.

One thing about Sushi is that it isn’t as esoteric as it used to be and is now enjoyed by a lot of people across the globe, especially here in the US. So a large number of places have good sushi restaurants. Which makes you think, “Hey, if it is that popular then there has to be something about it” and it is not uncommon these days that you get invited to a sushi dinner in a posh restaurant. Well, don’t let any apprehensions stop you. For some who have tried and liked it sushi has almost become their staple diet. The entire proceedings of going to a traditional Japanese sushi bar and the way it is served and eaten adds up to a complete sushi meal. The ambience is always interesting. If you go to a good sushi joint don’t forget to take notice(you won’t miss it) of the lights or lanterns shades, fountains and plants that deck up the place. The intereiors are created according to the principles of feng shui intending to infuse harmony.

There are restaurants where the sushi goes around on the conveyer belts and you are supposed to eat it when the dish reaches you. Then there is the sushi bar, where you sit on one side of the long table and across it you’ll see all the ingredients that are available for sushi that day. This way you’ll be better able to observe the quality of the seafood, the technique of the chef, and the preparation of various sushi meals.

First, take a good look at the menu. Avoid getting into the correct pronunciation and check out the ingredients. Most menus will have what is put in what and whether it is grilled, poached, steamed, cooked or uncooked. If confused, keep the guess work for the morning paper crossword puzzle and ask for help right away.

The next challenge is to eat with the chopsticks, don’t let them remind you of your mother’s long knitting needles. Relax and remember that while eating Sushi it is ok to use your hands. Traditionally, sushi was always eaten by hand. It was only when the sushi traveled to the west that people started using chopsticks. But, if you really want to use a chopsticks and are not sure how to use them then pick up the one which has both sticks attached to each other at one end. These worked for me and I found using them more easy than the regular detached pair of chopsticks.

chop.jpg

Besides the main dish you should be familiar with the condiments on the table. Start off by pouring a decent amount of soya sauce in your sauce dish, you can dip your sushi using your fingers or the chop stick. I always dip the fish part and not the rice part to avoid the sushi from falling apart. If you are wondering what the pickled ginger is doing on your dish try eating it between different kinds of sushi. It helps to clean your mouth and enhance the flavors. Don’t be very curious about the small wad of green paste on the platter, like I was. It is called wasabi (Japanese horse radish). Mix a very little quantity with the soya sauce. Although a common practice now, mixing the two in one dish was considered bad table manners in ancient Japan. The wasabi is hot and its hotness is more like that of mustard sauce than that of chili. For drinks you can order green tea. This goes best with sushi. If you are trying sushi for the first time you might want to order a huge glass of plain water, I like I did!

wasabi-waiting-for-the-soya-sauce.jpg\

DO’S

  • use the oshibori(wet towel) before and after the meal. It is brought hot or cold (depending on the weather).
  • try to eat the sushi roll in one go if you can because it breaks off very easily, besides being able to enjoy the enhanced flavor.
  • be careful of the wasabi, it is has an extremely strong flavor just a pinch can send shock waves in your nasal passage.
  • ask the chef for his/her recommendation of the day, you might get a dig into those fresh ones.
  • feel free to order the sushi you want if it is not on the conveyer belt.
  • DON’TS

  • never over fill your sauce tray, the dripping can become quite a mess.
  • while dipping your sushi in the sauce , don’t dip it entirely. Rice coat tends to fall apart very easily so dip the fish side only.
  • If you ever get invited to a Sushi restaurant and don’t enjoy Sushi a lot the trick is to opt for something less experimental on the menu. The good thing is that there are so many other cooked delicacies you can chose from besides sushi, like soups, noodles, rice, drinks and dessert. You can even try out the California roll, which is my personal favorite. It is cross breed which carters more to the non-Japanese taste buds. It usually has ingredients like crabs, avocados and cucumbers.

    The richness of color, the texture and the flavor is what attracted me the most towards eating the sushi. If the word raw fish still scares you and just hearing exotic ingredients like fish egg, crabs and eel gives you a tummy ache, you’ll be happy to know that all sushi not made from raw fish. Take for example the shrimp sushi which is thoroughly cooked before served . Also, try eating only those that you have already eaten when they are cooked. I tried tuna and salmon, these are easy to find in any restaurant.

    If you have an interesting experience about eating sushi then write about it and share it here.!!

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